The Zombie Apocalypse AU No One Asked For
by rockabillygirl
Summary: Exactly what it says on the tin. Mentions abuse.


They're in the basement of an old convenience store Allison led them to, huddled around . "I stole from here a lot," she tells them, grabbing a few candy bars for no reason, "So I know where everything is."

"Bender is the only one of us to have been in contact with the shitstorm," Allison tells Claire and Brian. "He found Andy and I quick enough, coz we were only on the other side of town. You guys were harder to track, but..." She slaps the bandage she's just wrapped on Brian's arm and grins, "the Breakfast Club comes through once more."  
"Why're they screaming so much?" Claire asks shakily, still not over what had just happened. She holds the busted bottle in her hands, staring into the glass like it holds her answers. Andrew got her to wash off the blood, at least, but no one had been able to separate Claire from the bottle. She never wanted to feel so helpless again.  
"They're fighting," Brian says unnecessarily. He's shaking but not bitten, so everyone counts it as a win.  
"Andy wants to save everyone," Allison says, "and Bender wants to save us."  
Andy shoves Bender back, getting into his face. "We can't leave, asshole, what about everyone else?"  
"I don't care about anyone else!" Bender screams, turning to Andy and pushing his finger into his chest. "All I care about are _you_ assholes!" He stands there, breathing harshly, and Andy backs down with the weight of that statement  
"You can't mean that," argues Claire weakly. "What about your parents?"  
"You-" Bender starts, before cutting himself off. His jaw clenches and unclenches furiously, like he's trying to chew his way through his anger and to his words. "I had to put my old man down," he tells them smoothly, sniffing. "Mom already had a bullet in her head." He waves his hand to the holster on his leg and the gun on his back. "'t's where I got these babies from."  
"I'm sorry," she says quietly, and he would flip his hair back if it weren't tied in a ponytail.  
"Hey, two less assholes in the world," he says, and then Brian speaks up: "Where would we go, Bender?"  
"My parents have a safe house in Cali," offers Claire, but Allison shakes her head.  
"We need to get there tonight," she says. "Why don't we just stay here for a bit?"  
They all agree, and Bender gives the girls as many layers of his clothes as he can to stay warm. "I'm going back up there," he says, "look around. See if there's anything we can use for bedding or supplies."  
"Okay," Andy nods, "Remember, I have my truck out back, so we can carry heavy stuff too. Knock on the door if you need help, okay?"  
"Yeah, look after the girls," Bender says distractedly, and hands Andy the pistol before suddenly flashing them all a smile. "Don't worry, you'll be fine."  
"Bender?" Allison says suddenly, and she sounds lost, almost frightened.  
Bender stops from opening the latch, faces the girl he thinks of as his little sister. "Yeah?"  
"... there's a cooler in the break room. For drinks and stuff. And the guy hid his weed in the top cabinet."  
Bender and she stare at each other for a long time, before his mouth quirks up at one end and he says, "Thanks."  
Then he's gone.

Bender sighs, runs his hands through his hair before checking in the old man's break room.

He doesn't expect to find the old man there, lunging at him. "SHIT!" Bender cries, before he lunges to the side, lets the old man fall at his feet, and crushes his wrinkly head with his heavy boots. Once, twice, and on the third try does he stop struggling, only faintly twitching.

"Bender?" A muffled cry is heard from the basement door, along with some shuffling noises.

"I'm fine! Stay down there," Bender yells back, and the shuffling noises stop as he continues through the break room. The old man had a bat, and the small bag of weed that Allison spoke of, plus the cooler for food. He drags all three things into the main store, and puts two ice bags into the cooler, along with a bunch of beers and deli products like cheese and meats. He pushes it against the wall, next to the door of the basement. He grabs every single box of cereal he can find, even that shitty healthy stuff (who knows, maybe Claire would eat it), and stacks those on top of each other.

The store's lights are off, but there's enough daylight drifting in through the barely boarded up windows that Bender can see just fine. Bender continues on, slightly upset that he can't find any bedding materials, but he does find a tarp. It's enough for the day, and he needs too many helping hands to get all of the necessities, so he trudges back to the door, arms heavy with the bat and tarp and some shit to make bomb ass sandwiches. "Open up, assholes," he murmurs, not want any noise.

There's loud footsteps, and Bender winces. He'll have to talk to everyone about being stealthy at the end of the world. The door opens, and Bender gets an armful of Allison and Claire. Or tries, because he can't really get his arms open with the stuff he's carrying.

"You guys need to be more quiet," Brian says nervously, and just for that, Bender tosses him the sandwich supplies.

"Listen to dorko," Bender says tiredly. While the adrenaline wears off, the feeling of safety sinks in as Andrew blocks the basement door back up with a chair. Brian gives him an anxious smile, and sets down the food on an old, rickety table.

Bender lays the tarp over the most dry area of the floor and heaps his layers of jackets onto it. "We'll need to sleep together," he says, and he can't help but adding a tiny jab, "Ladies in the middle."

"Sure. More body heat for me," Allison snickers, and Claire and the others roll their eyes. There's no heat in the words any more- no macho gusto or lewdness- especially not between Allison or Bender. Still, Bender wiggles his eyebrows in a farce of suggestive interest, and everyone cracks up.

"So," Andy starts up nervously, "what were you all doing before the..."

"Brain dead, cannibal zombies?" Bender offers, chewing with his mouth slightly open.

"Yeah," Andy agrees, wrinkling his nose at Bender's manners. Or lack thereof. He'd jab him in the ribs, but he's honestly so _hungry_.

"I was at my internship," Brian pipes up nervously. "A-and then the CEO, the CEO guy, he came down into the printer room to talk to me- well- I thought it was to talk b-but-"

"Easy, Brain," Bender says gently, surprising everyone. "One step at a time."

Brian takes a deep breath, and continues with, "Well, I thought it was the CEO guy coming to talk to me, but it was more like... he wanted to eat my brains. Like the zombies in the movies."

"What'd you do?" Claire asks quietly; a hush falling over all of them.

"I bashed him with the fire extinguisher, that's what," Brian says, "and then I locked myself on the roof, coz the elevator still worked. Then Bender found me."

"It was smart, too," Bender adds, "Brain worked in a building with rooftops right next to each other. Shimmied my way up one a block away, and led him back here with you two before I got Claire." He eats the rest of his sandwich in slow, savoring bites, and waits for someone else to start.

"I was with my friends in the other side of town," Claire says, before she turns to Bender and asks curiously, "How _did_ you find me?"

Bender looks a bit ill. "Your mom told me." Everyone freezes, and Bender meets Claire's eyes. "She loved you very much," he says, voice rough with emotion. His hand comes up to cover his mouth, and Claire bursts into tears.

"Bender and I were hiding out, and I was drawing. I... didn't know what was going on. We heard screams and Bender made us run." Allison entwines her fingers through Claire's hair and lets the girl cry on her, resting her chin on bouncy red hair.

"I was in my truck, and I nearly ran over these two," Andy says, motioning to Allison and Bender.

Claire seems to be getting over it, or burying it underneath her shell for the moment, and she lets out a watery laugh. "What about you, Bender?"

"What about me?" Bender snipes back, and she huffs.

"What were you doing before the world went to shit?" Claire asks again, wiping at her eyes. She opens her eyes, and, like everyone else, finds Bender looking a bit uncomfortable.

"Y'know, same old same old."

"Bender?" Brian asks carefully.

"Spit it out, Bender," Andy says, and God, does Bender wanna hit his pretty face.

"Just hanging out with the old man before he left to the bar. Came running in the house holding his neck, and ten minutes later, batta bing, batta boom! He's gone. My old lady sees what I did, goes and eats a bullet."

Something doesn't sit right with Brian, and he shakes his head. "No," he says, causing everyone to turn to him. "No, that's not all that happened."

"What, are you a damn psychic, Brain?" Bender grabs the ends of his red scarf and tugs, back and forth like he's sawing a tree.

"You never just- You never just hang out with your _dad_, Bender," Brian says, finally.

"Bender?" Allison says, using his name as a question. Always communicating what she means with his stupid name.

Everyone comes to the same conclusion at once, and they all jump at him, except for Brian, who looks sick. Andy is the closest one to Bender, and when he reaches towards him, Bender flinches. He honest to God flinches, banging-his-knees-on-the-shitty-table-and-nearly-toppling-it flinches. Bender doesn't take notice of that, because everything's gone still, and he knows his eyes are wide with fright, something that scares everyone else.

"Take it easy, cowboy," Bender chokes out, managing a limp smile. His eyes are still wide. Nervous. They dart between everyone in the room and the two exits: the thin, flat window and the door. Both too far. "Take it easy..."

"Bender," Andrew holds up his hands, backing away, horrified, "I'm... I'm not gonna hurt you, man."

"Bender?" Allison asks again, near hysteria.

"We need to see your injuries," Claire says. "We can't go out into a zombie world with you hurt and smelling like... like _prey_."

"Then leave me behind," Bender says nonchalantly. Everyone's stomachs turn, at both the _prey_ comment and the thought of leaving one of their own behind.

"No!" Allison cries, and shit, she actually looks terrified at the prospect. "No, no, no!" She bangs on the table to emphasize her point.

"Hey!" Bender says sharply, and she quiets down, shaking. "I was kiddin', Alley-Cat. Chill out." He turns to Andy. "There's a bunch of stuff for first aid. I'll go get it, and-"

"No," Andrew says firmly. "Knowing you, you'd try and patch yourself up in the break room. I'll go get it."

"Andy!" Bender says fiercely, grabbing onto the teen's wrist. Andrew blinks down at him,curious. The grip softens, and all Bender can bring himself to say is, "Don't use up too much of the supplies." The _be_ _careful_ part is clear, if unspoken.

"Of course," Andy says gently. He walks up the stairs and out into the store, and Bender tries to remember how to breathe while ignoring Brian's knowing look. The damn kid knows too much.

Bender is too tired and achy to protest any more, so he allows Brian and Claire and Allison to undress him with minimal flinching and hisses. He doesn't look at their faces; he doesn't want to see the disgust as their so called leader couldn't even protect himself from his own _dad_. It's enough that they help him undress and try not to make so much noise, but their tiny gasps and sobs still make it through. He can feel their hands shake, and he sighs, kind of cold being in only his boxers. "It doesn't hurt that much, okay?"

"You're such a liar," sniffs Claire. Allison and Brian all agree, and he tries to comfort them, at least until Andy gets back, with all he has in his arsenal: shitty, perverted jokes and soft, doting touches. Two gestures on the opposite sides of the spectrum, but both are comfortingly _Bender_ enough that it almost relaxes them. In the quiet of the room, he notices how raspy his breath sounds, and how much everything hurts now that there's no steady source of adrenaline.

It's so stressful, having other people care for him, and it's not like Bender had a lot of practice. He's all raw nerves because he can hear Andy upstairs and_ he's so loud, oh my God_. But this also ensures the fact that Bender can hear him come down the stairs with all of the grace of a herd of elephants, slams on the door and makes Bender flinch again. Bender feels stupid, and he tries to get up anyways, but Allison and Brian hold him down by the shoulders on their laps. He doesn't struggle too much because it hurts, and he knows they see the flash of pain in his eyes because they scooch closer together and gently lay Bender's head on their laps. Claire gets the door and moves to the side as Andy rushes in, before she hurries to lock it and secure it with the chair. Everyone just... _kneels_ next to Bender and he suddenly feels more self conscious than he ever did in detention.

Bender blows a lock of hair out of his face before trying to bitterly ask, "Why do you all even _care_?" Except it comes out more timid and weaker than he expected, and he flushes red, clears his throat.

"Because we love you," Allison says like it's the most irrefutable thing in all the universe, and everyone nods, nearly without hesitation. Bender lets his head fall back onto Allison and Brian's lap with a gentle 'thunk!'.

"You're all stupid morons," Bender says, then he says, "FUCK!" because Andy does something weird and yanks Bender's shoulder and everyone hears a popping sound.

"Your... Your shoulder was weird, and I was going off of a hunch-" Andy says, looking like he wants to throw up.

"Yeah, must've happened when he slammed me into something, I guess. It happens," Bender huffs, sweat lining his brow. "Just give me a warning next time, will ya? A hunch, god damn." Claire wipes his face with his scarf before helping Andrew clean and patch him up. The alcohol stings.

Brian slips away from the group and fixes the bedding, fluffing the clothes and such and adding his own sweater to the mix. Anything to keep everyone warm, he thinks to himself. Anything to keep himself busy.

Allison watches everyone with a dazed, almost vacant expression. Her eyes seem glazed in a way that if anyone had been noticing, they'd wave their hand in front of her face with concern. She can tell when the alcohol stings Bender, and he tenses up so much he's nearly risen off of her laps. Her fingers slip through Bender's hair, which had somehow become untied in all of the chaos, and she flinches when he cries out.

It takes a while, and Bender complains that he looks like a mummy afterwards but Andy and Claire are satisfied that _every_ scratch, cut, and bruise are patched up properly. Andy offers Bender a pain pill and some water, but he refuses. "I don't like how they make me feel," he says, and they all grudgingly go along with it when Brian points out that no means no, and we need him in top condition. Still, they demand, Claire being the most hysterically vocal about it, that Bender sleep in the middle of the pile. He doesn't say yes and he doesn't say no, but he's still boneless when they lug his frame over to the clothing covered tarp. Allison nuzzles up under one arm like a cat, Brian curls up behind her, and Claire snuggles under the other, while Andy sprawls recklessly next to her.

Everyone falls asleep to Brian asking "Why did the world have to end in November?" in a sleepy voice.


End file.
